Conference rocks::weight_control

    Here's the problem:  SMOKING IS EXERCISE.  All that inhaling burns
    calories (rats, I forgot the exact number per pack).  So if you quit 
    smoking and keep consuming the same amount of food, you [inevitably] gain 
    weight -- unless you increase your exercise to take up the slack.
    
    Kay

	Nicotine is a stimulant.

	Yes, quitting smoking will slow your metabolic rate.

	Exercise is an excellent substitution - it qwells the urge to
    smoke, and it raises the metabolism.

-mike z

    Hi
    
    Thanks for the replies.  I wonder how long it takes for your metabolism
    to return to normal?
    
    Angela

If "normal" means "higher like it was when I smoked" then I think
you need to speed it up "manually" by exercising.

Liz

ps, You've done a very wonderful thing for yourself and all those
who care about you by quitting smoking.  It's not easy by any
stretch.

    Does anyone know how many calories or how food it takes for your
    metabolism to kick in.  Will a stick of gum make it start working?
    
    Thanks!

    I just had my second anniversary of not smoking, and my metabolism
    still has not returned.  I still cannot loose the 40 lbs I gained,
    even tho I walked almost 50 miles a week for that first year, 
    tried an aerobics class, and am on 800 calories a day.  My dr. says 
    it may *never* come back!  A friend recommended the book "After the 
    Fast" by Phillip Sinaikin, MD with Judith Sachs.  Has anyone else
    read it?  
    

Re. .5

Your metabolism is always working!  Metabolism is the combination of
the physical and chemical processes that keep us alive.
Each individual has a different basal metabolic rate - the metabolism
required solely for maintenance of life.

Exercise can increase your metabolic rate for the exercise period, plus
a few hours after exercise stops.  Continued exercise should raise your
basal metabolic rate so that just existing burns more calories than it
did when you didn't exercise regularly.  
  
I can't really answer your question about the gum.  I suppose somewhere someone
has put out a chart that says how many calories chewing gum burns... but I
don't know if I'd consider it exercise.  One idea to try would be walking as
often as possible during the day - that would increase your activity level
and possibly jog your metabolism. (no pun intended)

Re. .6

How long have you been on 800 calories a day ?  Your body may be reacting
to the low calories by using them more efficiently - ie. SLOWING your
metabolism down and getting by on fewer calories because it senses
starvation.  Women should intake no less than 1200 calories a day, even when
trying to reduce (weight, size, etc).

Karen

.7>a few hours after exercise stops.  Continued exercise should raise your
.7>basal metabolic rate so that just existing burns more calories than it
.&>did when you didn't exercise regularly.  

	This is a very common misconception.

	As a person's cardiovascular condition improves, the basal
    metabolic rate will _drop_.  Metabolization of energy requires
    oxygen.  Because of that, the metabolic rate is related to both
    pulse rate and oxygen uptake.

	As a person's cardiovascular condition improves, resting
    pulse rate drops.

	When the pulse rate drops, so does the metabolic rate.

	The opposite is also true, when the pulse rate rises, as
    it can do during and after exercise, so does the metabolic rate.

-mike z

Mike, Could you site a reference to that information?

I was taught the opposite, and as I'm very interested in health and
nutrition, I would be interested in reading some information on
the subject (preferably from more than one source).  

Thanks,
Karen

.9>Mike, Could you site a reference to that information?

	Ok, I'll look for a physiology text for specific references.

-mike z